Bonifay's Walker living his dream at Florida

Published: Friday, February 7, 2014 at 03:14 PM.

“There were guys on the court way older than Chris and they were blown away,” Long said. “They were like, Chris is out there, he’s 14 and he’s making these grown men, he’s tearing them down.”

As the “Free Chris Walker” campaign mounted in January, Long said she spotted him on TV moping on the bench. That prompted a phone call to her self-described “godson.”

“I always saw him as this happy-go-lucky kid that despite whatever was thrown at him, was determined to be happy,” Long said. “When he was sitting on the bench, he looked sad. And I called him up and told him, ‘You keep your head up. You’ve come this far and you know, things are going to work out for you.’ “

Walker said he tried to stay positive during the NCAA investigation.

“I knew it had to end eventually,” Walker said. “I tried not to let it bother my mind. I just kept working and following coach in what he said every day.”

Walker made the most of his seven minutes off the bench against Missouri, finishing with four points, two rebounds and two blocked shots. At times, Walker was slow to help on defense and got called for a foul off the ball when he clutched Missouri forward Tony Criswell on an in-bounds play. But those are things that can be cleaned up between now and March.

For now, Walker is just happy to be on the court and contributing, considering the obstacles he’s overcome.

GAINESVILLE — Nadine Long made the three-hour drive from Marianna to Gainesville on Tuesday night to watch Florida freshman Chris Walker make his debut against Missouri.

Long had served as parental figure to Walker growing up, inviting the 6-foot-10 forward over to her house to play video games with her kids or to share meals. So when Walker first stepped on the court with 11:28 left in the first half, it brought tears to Long’s eyes.

“He’s realizing his dream and he’s worked so hard to get there,” Long said. “When I think about it, I get emotional.”

Many people know Walker as a consensus Top 15 national recruit who won the McDonald’s All-American slam dunk contest before enrolling at Florida. What they may not know is that Walker was abandoned by his biological parents. He was raised by his grandmother from when he was a baby until she died when he was 12. He then moved in with his grandmother’s close friend, Janeen Campbell, who was on a fixed income and ill-equipped financially to raise a young teenager.

Long spelled out these special circumstances in a letter she sent to NCAA president Mark Emmert, urging the governing body of college sports to give Walker a second chance. At the time, the NCAA was investigating Walker for receiving illegal benefits from agents and summer league coaches ranging from cell phones to apparel to travel and cash. As a young basketball prodigy who was 6-foot-8 by the time he was 13, Walker was a commodity in the under-the-table-deal world of summer basketball.

“Even the people close to home, we weren’t prepared for this,” Long said. “We always knew, here was this driven, ambitious kid who was so passionate about the game of basketball ever since he was young.

“The Chris Walker that everybody sees today, he’s the kid we fell in love with. He was a dreamer and he was determined to do whatever he had to do to realize his dream.”

In his first comments since arriving on campus at Florida in December, Walker acknowledged he didn’t think he was breaking NCAA rules in some of his dealings with travel-league coaches.

“I was really like 16 or 17,” Walker said. “I had no idea about all the rules or everything.”

Added Long: “In hindsight, probably a lot of things might have been done differently. I traveled with Chris a lot myself throughout the years and we just weren’t prepared for this, for his level of success and we’re thankful because it’s his dream.”

Growing up in Bonifay (population 2,793), a small town in the Florida Panhandle, Walker had big dreams. Long said Walker knew that basketball was the ticket to improve his circumstances.

“We had conversations along those lines when he was 13 years old,” Long said. “My kids would be going out to play, and if Chris wasn’t on the court ... he was inside (our) house, doing a basketball video game and maybe wanting to go outside and practice his moves. He would even text me and say, ‘Hey, I got a new move, I learned a new move.’ I’ve got to show it to you when I see you. It was awesome. Yeah, I think he always knew (basketball) was his calling.

“He’s worked hard over the years. Chris was in the gym practicing basketball over the summer and things like that when other kids were just hanging out, playing. I remember thinking, telling him, stop and enjoy yourself sometimes. Basketball, he would eat, sleep and drink basketball.”

By middle school, Walker was regularly beating players in one-and-one that were three or four years older than him.

“There were guys on the court way older than Chris and they were blown away,” Long said. “They were like, Chris is out there, he’s 14 and he’s making these grown men, he’s tearing them down.”

As the “Free Chris Walker” campaign mounted in January, Long said she spotted him on TV moping on the bench. That prompted a phone call to her self-described “godson.”

“I always saw him as this happy-go-lucky kid that despite whatever was thrown at him, was determined to be happy,” Long said. “When he was sitting on the bench, he looked sad. And I called him up and told him, ‘You keep your head up. You’ve come this far and you know, things are going to work out for you.’ “

Walker said he tried to stay positive during the NCAA investigation.

“I knew it had to end eventually,” Walker said. “I tried not to let it bother my mind. I just kept working and following coach in what he said every day.”

Walker made the most of his seven minutes off the bench against Missouri, finishing with four points, two rebounds and two blocked shots. At times, Walker was slow to help on defense and got called for a foul off the ball when he clutched Missouri forward Tony Criswell on an in-bounds play. But those are things that can be cleaned up between now and March.

For now, Walker is just happy to be on the court and contributing, considering the obstacles he’s overcome.

“We’re all abuzz,” Long said. “All excited that our baby boy is getting to do what he loves most.”

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